NEMA/BIS Forecasting Team in Top Five for Accuracy for Second Year in a Row

​The National Electrical
Manufacturers Association (NEMA) today announced that its nationally ranked forecasters Don Leavens,
vice president and chief economist, and Tim Gill, director economics, placed
highly in the Wall Street Journal’s Economic Forecasting Survey for the
second year in a row.

Leavens
and Gill were ranked number one for their 2011 macroeconomic forecast and
finished in fifth place for 2012, according to annual results released by the
newspaper yesterday. The achievement marks a notable degree of consistency
during an extended period of difficult-to-predict economic conditions.

“We’ve
long held that the recovery from the Great Recession was going to be slower
than in past business cycles,” said Leavens. “That view has been borne out by
the data over the last couple of years.”

How
do NEMA’s forecasters expect the economy to perform in 2013? “We see economic
growth in the first half of 2013 looking much like it has over the last several
years,” said Gill. “But a steadily recovering housing market and more robust
consumer spending gains should contribute to a stronger economy later in the
year and into 2014.”

Approximately
50 forecasters serve on the Wall Street Journal panel each year,
representing academia, financial institutions, consulting firms, private
businesses, and industry associations. Their contributions are evaluated using
a methodology designed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

NEMA is the association of electrical equipment and medical imaging manufacturers, founded in 1926 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Its member companies manufacture a diverse set of products including power transmission and distribution equipment, lighting systems, factory automation and control systems, and medical diagnostic imaging systems. Worldwide annual sales of NEMA-scope products exceed $120 billion.